‘I wanted to find out where he felt he was,’ said the England manager. ‘He felt he wasn’t ready yet to play this level.

‘If Danny didn’t feel he was ready for that I can understand it given the amount of minutes he’s had and he didn’t play at the end of the season with Leicester either.’

Southgate is dealing with a number of England absentees (Getty)

Since moving to Chelsea, Drinkwater has managed to make just four appearances for Antonio Conte’s side.

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However, Sutton believes that the midfielder has made a dreadful error by turning down England – and it could even hamper his chances of breaking into the Chelsea team.

‘Danny Drinkwater has made the biggest mistake of his career in snubbing Southgate,’ Sutton told theDaily Mail, adding that his ‘chances of playing at the World Cup are surely over and future England managers — never mind Southgate — will not want to touch him.’

Drinkwater came on as a sub at the weekend against Manchester United (Getty)

He went on: ‘On a purely practical level, it would have made sense for Drinkwater to join up with England. Given he has had little game-time for Chelsea, these games would have been a perfect opportunity for him to get minutes under his belt.

‘There is stiff competition in midfield at Chelsea, but had Drinkwater shone against quality opposition — Germany on Friday night and Brazil on Tuesday — he could have forced his way into Antonio Conte’s thinking.

‘Now, Conte will only be able to judge him in Under 23 matches or League Cup ties.’